What is Call & Response?

It’s a unique collaborative 365/photo-a-day project. It is two friends, each armed with a list of 183 words, carrying on a photographic dialogue using the call-and-response format of old-time gospel hymns. In the morning one partner puts out the call, and in the afternoon the other partner answers with a response. Two interpretations of a single-word prompt. —FORGET WHAT YOU JUST READ, and check out the next section, please. —Ah, you’ll have to read all the way to the bottom of that paragraph to get up to snuff. Hey, you can’t say that we’re not open to change, right?  = )

What has Call & Response Become?

After 365 days of each offering a photographic contribution based on chosen words (and a month-long hiatus), we are changing the rules of the game. From September 1, 2013 to August 31, 2014, we will be focusing on weekly photographic projects, still taking turns calling out challenges and responding to them. You may find weeks filled with posts and weeks that offer slim pickings. The point of it all, though, is to grow in our photographic skills and help each other reach new heights. Wait. Wait. Scratch most of that. We’re changing things up again. I know. I know. But trust us; this is going to be good. Look for posts everyday, alternating between us (one from Jessica, one from Cheryl, one from Jessica …); and a little more subtlety (yes, you may have to work a little to find connections), and calls and responses that just sort of grow on their own. We think this is going to be great (hope you do, too).

Who are the friends?

Cheryl, the mastermind behind the call-and-response, one-word format, fancies herself a photographer, but her real strength lies in crafting images from words. She does her own thing over at Ruff Edge Design.

Jessica likes to dig underneath WordPress templates and muck around with the php. Sometimes. Other times it drives her to the brink. She used to dream of being a writer and then she discovered her true strength lay in interpreting the world visually. She does her own thing over at Living in a Still Life.

Where do you get the words?

Wherever we can find them: books, websites, signs, the mouths of babes. Here’s the interesting part: all the words were chosen before the first post went up, and we’re each playing our words close to the chest. One day out of two, neither of us knows what to expect.

Can I play along?

Absolutely. Just tag your photos on Instagram, Facebook, Flickr, or Google Plus with #callandresponse, and leave a comment with a link to its location.